"Some good, some not so good"

My toddler was brought in by ambulance to the ED after falling on their arm. It was pretty obviously broken, but to what extent I wasn't sure.

All things going well, we were seen quite swiftly considering I understand that the ED is always busy and staffing is always not at full capacity.

After x-rays confirmed the break it was not long until the doctor came and told us it would be a case of trying to manipulate the bones back together, thus avoiding surgery. My child was in a cast within an hour and we were moved to the Paed. ED area. No one really told us why we were there or how long we were going to be there for.

We then got shipped off to the ward around 1 am ... again I wasn't too sure why we were spending the night after a broken arm? I got told the doctor was coming to check nerve damage eventually, but this wasn't until we were discharged in the morning. I checked 3 times with 2 different nurses and was assured I didn't need to see a doctor before being discharged (never heard of it happening). Yes we were still waiting to see the doctor from the previous night.

I then received a phone call from the NUM asking us to kindly return to see the doctor.

So we return and see a doctor reasonably quickly who assesses my child's cast and believes it isn't too tight and once the swelling goes down it will be fine.

We again leave, this time around 9am.

By 4pm I am back at the ED as my toddler's fingers have turned purple and are cool to touch.

Thank goodness I get a very competent doctor who states - thank goodness you came when you did. They split the cast and we spend yet another night in hospital to ensure the circulation improves. No worries at all, happy to do it. But didn't appreciate being seen in the morning at 6am (whilst my child slept) and in my opinion, being told to get out essentially, as they needed the bed. I know it's not a hotel, but my child was sleeping and would only sleep until 7 at best. Not quite reasonable I feel. No paperwork, no signing documents, no nothing given to me - instead just told to leave.

The next day, as we hadn't spent enough time driving to and from the hospital - we were told to return to the fracture clinic. Oh, wasn't this fun. My partner and I knew it was not long before Christmas and they were closing and had to cram everyone in. I call it more centrelink/Vic roads/airport multiple flight cancellations. It was awful with people on the floor and down the hallways. Not great.

The clinic was then a weekly appointment which was great when it seemed there were inexperienced doctors who couldn't make decisions. And now my toddler has a bent arm and will do until such time it grows straight, years I believe.

If surgery was going to repair it correctly to begin with why was I not given that option. In my opinion, there was so much stuffing around trying to avoid surgery - which I appreciate is a big deal, however had I just gone to see a private orthopaedic surgeon chances are it would have been fixed correctly at the beginning, as opposed to waiting week by week checking numerous x-rays to decide that, oh yeah it's too late now.

The ED staff are fabulous and should be rewarded for their tireless efforts. They never get a quiet time and to relax a little bit. They were all amazing in particular the nurses in ED.

Paed Ward nurses it seems need more assistance to know that a doctor should sign off on a ortho patient? Not sure, it seems common sense to me.

Three of the ortho doctors it appeared were not confident and left me concerned about my child's welfare. Another however was amazing and so thorough, but has now since left I believe.

Overall the staff went out of their way to help us, but it always appeared the right hand wasn't talking to the left hand. Never were we presented options, only told what was happening.

I believe they should include the parents, let us know what we're waiting for and what's happening. It wasn't a great experience overall.